We could have might a release on Thursday: Gamma phase?

i guess its the new launcher and maybe new lobby options and friends and clan support and such things.

So release isn't until omega!

Well... Why hurry?

I guess I will be the grumpy one once again, but what's the point of using developpement steps (alpha-beta-RC-..) if you invent new one as you wish, destroying the meaning of these terms in the process?

At least be original and invent brand new terms, as you didn't respect the real ones.

ie. "we are entering the awesome phase next week, the uber release is planned next month."

It doesn't make more sense, but at least it's funnier.

This is what I felt when i read this...

http://i.imgur.com/eFhPlLH.jpg

Alternatively:

Since PA is being developed in a completely different way to most conventional games, why stick to arbitrary labels that don't really apply?

I don't believe PA is developed differently than any other game to be honest.

I know they are communicating a lot about how iterative their dev is, but any game or software is developed that way for the last decade.
Iterative game design is less common (but still quite common for indie/small games), but it doesn't really apply to PA as it's based on existing gameplay from previous games.

So... How many other games have multiple-planet large scale warfare? That allow you to smash said planets?

Crisis. Pilot I love your work on Faf and all the assistance you gave me there, but by god man. Why always so negative about this?

PA is a great game, FA is a great game. No one is taking what you have done away from you or anything, so why the negativity?

If you have something constructive to add then do so. But these shitty little snarky comments are exceedingly aggravating

If it makes you feel any better, let's do this:

Alpha --> InDev
Beta --> Alpha
Gamma --> Beta



Edit to accommodate your edit:

The whole thing was released to the public a lot sooner than most games are because of the fact it was crowdfunded. They'd already set out in the kickstarter that higher tier backers could get access to the Alpha. They'd already assigned labels to release phases before development of the game had even begun.

I think we can all agree that for a 'Beta', PA's beta has been very Alpha-y. Honestly, labels don't matter all that much. The game is not released yet - that's about as precise as we need to be at this point.

It's not because I'm saying that inventing meaningless new dev term is stupid that I think PA is bad.

How is that related to coding the game?
Any game is unique in his way. (yes, even a Call of duty game). Doesn't change the fact that it's not done in any special way.

A gamma-stage is basically a release candidate.

I've been following this game for quite some time through the website/forum and facebook-page.
Now if I see a facebook-annoucement stating that the game is entering gamma-stage, then I'm thinking "yey they're almost ready for release, where's my wallet". It didn't take much reading to see that this is not the case. If they are still planning on adding new features of changing things, then this is not something that would be called gamma. Because:

So it's just another beta.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to flame the devellopers here. I've been waiting for this game for some time now, and will continue to do so. I just don't like false hope, which is what this annoucement felt like.

The Development doesn't really fit into the alpha/beta stage category. They have milestones, whatever they release tomorrow just happens to be the next milestone. Why does it matter anyways? It's a software project, they can do whatever they think works.

When a software developper want to do a milestone, they are using codename (Vienna, Longhorn, Awesome, Uber, ...) for their release, not actual dev steps (alpha, beta,...).
And certainly not inventing new steps. It's not awesome, it's meaningless.

PA dev has nothing original. It fit the standard nomenclature perfectly.
What make it original is that they invent terms & definitions instead of using the correct ones.

And yes it's important and it matters, because these words have meaning. If everyone start doing it, these words will not have meaning anymore.
That might be a good thing, or not.

In this case, it's not, because alpha/beta/RC are actually quite handy definitions to use.

Would it kill you to think outside the box and not rigidly stick to the arbitrary system in place?

That's not call "thinking outside the box", it's call "inventing stuff randomly".
Thinking outside the box involve an original idea that make sense, not the case here.

Also the system is not arbitrary. Maybe you don't understand it, but it's really well defined.

Could you show me some definitions? I'd be really interested to see them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle

As the current beta is really an alpha by definition, I guess they have to invent a new stage to make their real beta something else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle This is what he's refering to...